The Chamber of Princes (Narendra Mandal) was an institution established in 1920 by a royal proclamation of King-Emperor George V to provide a forum in which the pro-British rulers of the princely states of India could voice their needs and aspirations to the colonial government of British India. It survived until 1947.Vapal Pangunni Menon (1956) The Story of the Integration of the Indian States, Macmillan Co., pp. 17-19.
Overview The Chamber of Princes was established in 1920, by King-Emperor George V's proclamation on 23 December 1919, after the Government of India Act 1919 was given royal assent. The creation of the chamber followed the abandonment by the British of their long-established policy of isolating the Indian rulers from each other and also from the rest of the world.Barbara N. Ramusack, The Princes of India in the Twilight of Empire: Dissolution of a Patron-client System, 1914–1939 (Ohio State University Press, 1978) p. xix
The Chamber first met on 8 February 1921 and initially consisted of 120 members. Of those, 108 from the more significant states were members in their own right, while the remaining twelve seats were for the representation of a further 127 states. That left 327 minor states, which were unrepresented. Also, some of the more important rulers like the Maratha-ruled states of Baroda State, Gwalior State and Indore State declined to join it .John Allan, Wolseley Haig, Henry Dodwell, The Cambridge Shorter History of India (1969), p. 1065
The Chamber of Princes usually met only once a year, with the Viceroy of India presiding, but it appointed a Standing Committee which met more often. The full Chamber elected from its princely ranks a permanent officer styled the Chancellor, who chaired the Standing Committee.
The chamber convened at the Parliament House. Today the hall is used as the parliament's library.
Concerns about post-independence constitution
On 12 March 1940, the Chamber resolved:
Chancellors
Name Title Tenure Major-General Sir Ganga Singh Maharaja of Bikaner State 1921–1926 Adhiraj Major-General Sir Bhupinder Singh Maharaja of Patiala State 1926–1931 Colonel Sir K.S. RanjitsinhjiMaharaja of Nawanagar State 1931–1933 Colonel Sir K.S. Digvijaysinhji 1933–1943 Yadavindra Singh Maharaja of Patiala State 1943–1944 Major-General Sir Hamidullah Khan Nawab of Bhopal State 1944–1947
See also Durbar (court) List of Indian princely states Salute state
References
Further reading S. M. Verma. .
R. P. Bhargava, The Chamber of Princes (Northern Book Centre, 1991, 351 pp.) Barbara N. Ramusack, The Princes of India in the Twilight of Empire: Dissolution of a Patron-client System, 1914–1939 (Ohio State University Press, 1978) Ian Copland, Princes of India in the Endgame of Empire, 1917–1947 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Studies in Indian History & Society, 2002)
External links
Image of the chamber in session